


The Boathouse

by hallelujah99



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Drama, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, T. J. Kippen & Amber Are Twins, tyrus wedding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-10-10 17:04:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20531504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallelujah99/pseuds/hallelujah99
Summary: Amber is traveling back to Shadyside to watch her brother marry the love of his life, who he's been grossly in love with since they were 14. She's happy for them, of course, she just has to figure out how to avoid the never ending questions from her family about when she'll finally settle down. Thankfully, someone from her past has an idea that just might help her survive the week.(Ambi fake dating drama, Tyrus fluffy wedding)





	1. Chapter 1

For the first several years of their lives, Amber did everything first. Their baby book proves it: Amber took her first steps months before T.J. did, she said her first word before him, she learned to read and write before him, she learned to add and subtract before he could even count very high (okay, so their parents probably should have handled that all differently) and when they got to middle school, Amber was the first to get into a relationship. That would be her last first, though. And it all started with Cyrus Goodman.

Thanks to Cyrus, T.J. ended up being the first of the twins to come out, and later on, thanks to Cyrus’s life-long obsession with college, T.J. got his acceptance letters before Amber, and even graduated a semester before her. Now, he was going to be the first to get married-meanwhile Amber was desperately single.

She sighed as she finished packing her suitcase. She knew she should be looking forward to the weekend, and of course she was insanely happy that her brother was finally marrying the boy who stole his heart 13 years ago, but all she could think of was that it would be a repeat of the engagement party a year and a half prior, where she explained to cousin after cousin that it was just really hard to meet girls, even in a big city like Chicago. 

Of course, the engagement party hadn’t been all bad. After she’d finally worked up the courage to approach Andi and speak to her, it had been quite nice. Buffy was there, too, and maybe it was for the better, as she was able to fill in the awkward silences. And if Buffy knew about what happened right before Amber left for college, she sure didn’t show it. 

After dropping Skia off with a friend, Amber got in an Uber to head to the airport. “On my way to the airport-cant wait see you all soon <3” she texted her family group chat, mostly because she wanted to subtly remind her parents they needed to pick her up from the airport and have her old bedroom ready for her. 

She checked her bags easily enough and got through security without too much hassle, and began walking towards her gate. She was all ready to slide into an open seat, far from anyone else, put in her headphones and wait, when she saw her.

Andi Mack hadn’t changed much in the years since high school. Her hair was chin length now, but she still had a fancy headband in it, and her warm brown eyes, of course, still shone the way they always did. They were looking right at her, and Amber knew she had no choice. (Of course, social convention dictated that she had no choice, if you see someone you know in public and they know you’ve seen them, you must say hi. But Amber also knew she had no choice in another way-she was drawn to Andi like an invisible string pulling her). 

“Andi, hi, how are you?!” Amber greeted her, hoping she didn’t sound too enthusiastic...or not enthusiastic enough. 

“I’m good, how are you? You must be so excited to see your brother get married!” Okay, good, good, this was normal. She could talk about Cyrus and T.J., people loved to hear stories about her brother and how he met his husband to be when they were only in middle school and how they’ve only ever been madly in love since then. 

“Yeah, they’ve been together since middle school, so it’s about time!” Amber rattled off the phrase she’d said every single time she’s discussed this wedding, which is just infinite at this point.

Andi laughed a little uncomfortably “I know, I was there! And we both know they wanted to wait so they could save up for their dream wedding.” Amber nodded, feeling foolish, the way she always did when talking to pretty girls. 

“So, are you just connecting through Chicago, or...” Amber asked. She knew from the engagement party that Andi had attended school in Portland and stayed there afterwards, and it didn’t make much sense that she’d be flying thorough Chicago, but she didn’t want to let on just how well she remembered all the things Andi told her.

“No, actually, I live here now, I got offered this really cool position at the Art Institute of Chicago so I’ve been here for a couple months now!” 

For a second, Amber’s heart fluttered-her and Andi in the same city? Maybe they could pick back up where they’d left things so long ago? But then came the reality check-Amber had lived in Chicago for years, and if Andi had any interest in her, she’d have known that. And if she did know that, and chose not to reach out, well then, that further proves the point. Maybe Amber had made everything that happened out to be more than it was.

“That’s awesome! It’s a great city.” Amber smiled, biting back her tongue to not ask Andi what neighborhood she was in- a normal question in Chicago, but it felt too invasive for this conversation. 

“It really is. You must be looking forward to the wedding, though, huh?” Andi asked with a smile before immediately burying her face in her hands. “Oh my god, I literally just said that. Excuse me while I die of embarrassment.” Amber can’t help but laugh, not at Andi’s blunder, but at how much she was acting like her younger self. It relaxed her, too, to know she wasn’t the only one getting tripped up in this conversation. 

“It’s okay. Honestly I am looking forward to it, but sort of not looking forward to my whole entire family asking me why I’m perpetually single while my twin is marrying the soulmate he met when we were literally children.” Amber admitted. She figured self-deprecating jokes, though she did try to avoid them, tended to make others feel better when they’ve embarrassed themselves.

Andi laughed “Perpetually single. That’s me, though.” Finally, a common cause to complain about together-the easiest way to establish a good conversation. “Literally, though, I swear every member of my family always asks me why I’m single, like they think it just rains lesbians in Chicago.” Amber rolled her eyes, before quickly correcting herself “Women who like women, I mean.” Somehow, she felt weirder after her own correction.

Andi didn’t seem to mind. “At least you have that excuse. I’m literally attracted to people of any gender and I can’t even get one date.” Amber giggled. It was kind of preposterous to think of Andi not being able to get a date, but she let it slide. “Is your family on your case, too?” 

Andi scoffed. “Do you remember Cece? My grandma?” Amber nodded, who could forget Cece?! “Let’s just say that the stereotypical ‘where are my grandchildren?’ mom had nothing on Cece’s ‘where are my great-grandchildren?!’ “ Amber laughed, Cece and her mom always got along well, and it was no surprise-they were quite similar in many ways.

“Honestly,” Andi continued, “I was so close to inviting my friend Trent along to pose as my boyfriend for the week, just to get her off my case. It would never work though, my mom would know he’s gay immediately and probably tell her.”

Amber sighed “If I’d thought of that in time, I’d probably have found a friend to be my fake girlfriend, too.”

It was then that the thought occurred to Amber, a plan so crazy it just might work...not that she’d ever tell Andi what she was thinking. But then she turned and Andi made eye contact with her, a mischievous look on her face. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Andi whispered. 

__

“Baby, good news!” Cyrus called across the house to T.J. “What is it, babe?” “The florist just emailed me, turns out they were able to get all those white dahlias after all!” 

“Oh, that’s awesome!” TJ replied with a smile, joining Cyrus in the living room. “I mean, I know it doesn’t really matter, but chrysanthemums just don’t pop the way dahlias do. You know?” 

“No, you’re definitely right. Honestly, though, whoever said wedding planning was stressful just didn’t know what they were doing. Just give yourself two years of planning time, and hire the best wedding planner in the county to take care of all the hard stuff!” Cyrus commented as TJ curled into him on the couch.

“Or just know you’re marrying the right person so that you don’t sweat the small stuff.” TJ said before kissing Cyrus gently on the cheek. 

“Like when the caterers tell you they can’t make the 65 loaves of challah they promised.” Cyrus replied with a smile. “I told you, I already took care of that.” TJ promised him, nuzzling against him. 

TJ’s phone rang then, and they looked at the screen to see that it was TJ’s mom. She usually texts if its unimportant, so TJ picked up right away. 

“TJ, honey, hello! I know it’s last minute and you probably have a million things to do, but is there any chance you could pick your sister up from the airport? I thought your father was going to do it, he thought I was going to do it...long story short can you possibly get her? She should be landing in about two hours.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, mom. Don’t worry about it. See you soon, I love you.”

“Love you too!” His mother chirped before hanging up.

TJ rubbed his temples. “Please tell me we’re going to communicate better than them even when we’re old.” Cyrus pulled TJ’s hand away from his face and kissed his temples. “We will. Besides, I’m going to be picking Andi up in like two hours anyway, so it all works out.”

“Oh, that’s right!” TJ replied. 

“Do you just want me to go and get them?” Cyrus asked, running his hand casually through TJ’s hair, smiling at the way TJ’s eyes closed in relaxation. 

“No, I wanna come with you. I like spending time with you” TJ replied, laying down on the couch and gently pulling Cyrus with him.

“Good, because the plan is that we keep spending time together forever.” 

TJ squeezed Cyrus and gave him a quick kiss before something clicked. “Wait, Andi just moved to Chicago, right? They’re probably on the same plane!”

“Huh, I bet you’re right. I wonder if they noticed each other.” 

“Well, if not, they’ve got a whole car ride to catch up.” 

“Yeah, they were such good friends, especially at the end of high school, I don’t know what ever happened to them.” Cyrus wondered. 

“Well, hopefully they can start reconnecting, if they haven’t already.” TJ said, before drifting off for a quick nap, his fiancé in his arms.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m telling you, babe, it was the summer between freshman and sophomore year!” TJ said as he pulled into the pick-up lane of the airport. 

“It was between sophomore and junior year! There’s no way I would have agreed to go cliff jumping at that age, I was way too anxious at that point.” Cyrus replied. This was as much as they ever fought, for the most part, smiling the whole time and knowing that it didn’t really matter. 

“Well we can ask Andi and Amber what they think, Andi always remem-“ TJ cut himself off, his jaw dropping and his eyes bulging out of his face. Cyrus followed his line of sight and his jaw dropped, too.

There was Andi Mack and Amber Kippen....walking hand in freaking hand. 

__

“Can they see us?” Amber asked through the smile she had plastered on her face. Her stomach was swirling, and her hand was so sweaty she was convinced Andi would drop it at any second and wipe her palm on her adorable pants. 

“I think so...oh yep, now they can, look at them!” Andi replied.

Amber looked through the windshield at her brother and his fiancé, their mouths gaping wide open. Sure, she felt a little bad lying to them, and there was no reason to, as neither of them were too guilty of the pestering, but at some point Andi mentioned they should fake it for the entire week and keep up the act around everyone to keep their secret safe, and Amber could only say yes. Shocking the grooms-to-be by holding hands as they got picked up was just a fun little bonus. 

Cyrus threw open the car door and ran towards them, throwing his arms around both of them. “YOU GUYS! It’s so good to see both of you!” He held them tightly for a second before pulling back. “Now, WHAT is this?!” He exclaimed, motioning to their joined hands. 

“Damn, Cyrus, didn’t know you were homophobic!” Amber joked. 

“Well, I am! No gays invited to my wedding!” He joked, taking their bags and heading towards the trunk of the car. 

“What the fuck?!” TJ exclaimed the second Amber opened the back door to his car. “Nice to see you, too, sweet brother of mine.” She replied, delighting in the way it made Andi giggle. 

“What’s going on?” TJ asked as he pulled away from the curb. 

“Well...” Andi said, exchanging smiles with Amber. “We bumped into each other at a cafe just a few weeks ago, and we got to talking, and the next thing we knew...” Andi trailed off, staring lovingly into Amber’s eyes, and Amber had to remind herself not to get carried away and pretend it was real. 

“And you just didn’t tell anyone because....?” Cyrus asked, clearly quite exasperated. 

“Well, it’s still new and we didn’t want to say anything too soon, and we figured we could just surprise everyone at the wedding!” Amber replied, reciting her part of their rehearsed lie. 

“Well, I’m happy for you two. I always thought you’d make a good couple.” Cyrus said, smiling ear to ear. “Don’t you think so, Teej?” He asked. TJ’s face had gone from shocked to...skeptical? Oh no, Amber should have known she couldn’t fool her own twin brother.

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t break her heart, all right, Amber?” He said. 

Andi laughed “Aren’t you supposed to say that to me?” 

“Nah, Amber’s too tough to get her heart broken.” He said. 

Oh. Maybe he didn’t know her that well, after all. Because, if she was being really, truly, honest with herself, (which was something she was working on), her heart was already breaking a little bit. 

“Wait, so are you both staying with your own parents or are you staying together?” Cyrus asked. They hadn’t thought of this, and honestly, there were probably other things they hadn’t thought of either. Good thing Andi was quick on her feet. “Well, we both wanna see our own families and we really haven’t been together that long, so...” 

“So, is everything all set for the wedding? No last minute surprises?” Amber asked, desperate to change the subject. She hadn’t prepared well enough for this. 

As Cyrus went off about their caterer and challah, Amber noticed TJ eyeing her skeptically in the rear view mirror. She leaned forward to whisper “Eyes on the road,” but she knew she wasn’t out of the woods with him. 

After a long conversation about flowers and photographers and seating charts, they pulled into the driveway of the Mack house. It brought Amber memories of the last time she was there, about a week before she left for college. It wasn’t something she wanted to think about, a pregnant Bex smiling sadly and telling her Andi wasn’t home, even though Amber knew she was.

Andi got out of the car, and TJ and Cyrus did as well. “I didn’t get to hug you yet!” TJ said, and wrapped his arms around Andi, as Cyrus grabbed Andi’s bag from the trunk. Amber checked her phone while she waited, but when she looked up, she saw all three looking at her expectantly. 

“Aren’t you going to kiss your girlfriend goodbye?” TJ asked. He raised his eyebrows at her. She laughed nervously and got out of the car.

Andi put her arms out for a hug, and Amber gladly accepted it. It felt so good to hold her for a second, to be held by her, and for a second, she didn’t even consider the circumstances or what she was supposed to be doing, or who was there, watching her. She just held the girl she’d always kinda thought was her soulmate. 

“Bye, sweetheart! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Andi said, and Amber wished so badly she couldn’t hear the fakeness in her voice. 

“See ya!” Amber said, pulling back from the embrace. She was relieved Andi hadn’t tried to actually kiss her, that would have been awkward in front of TJ for one thing, and probably would have felt so good it hurt.

The drive from the Mack house to her own childhood home was terribly familiar, in a way. On the left, there was the park, same as it ever was. One block later, there was the house with a dozen birdhouses in the yard. Some things had changed, though. The house that had once been a soft violet color, for example, was now a muted gray. It made her feel old, at best.

After showering and taking a quick nap, it was time for dinner with parents and the golden couple. Only a few bites into the salad, Amber’s mom did exactly what Amber had been waiting for. “So, Amber, sweetie, are there any special girls back into Chicago?” 

Amber made sure to avoid looking in TJ’s direction as she answered. “Well, actually, there is a special girl, however, she actually isn’t back in Chicago.” (Amber couldn’t help but notice she hadn’t technically just lied).

“OH?!” Her mom set her fork down and her dad looked up excitedly. “Yeah, um, Andi Mack and I actually reconnected recently, and it’s new but it’s been going really well.”

“REconnected?” Her dad questioned. “Well, I mean, we reconnected, yes, but it...I mean it wasn’t romantic before, and now it is.” A lie on multiple levels.

“Oh, well that’s so awesome to hear, darling. We were starting to worry about you.” Her mom said with a smile. The sentence replayed in her head for the rest of the dinner. 

__

After dinner, TJ and Cyrus said goodbye to the Kippens and the second TJ closed the car door, he turned to Cyrus. “They’re lying.” 

“What?” Cyrus asked. 

“Amber and Andi. They’re lying about something.” TJ said confidently as he turned the car on. 

“What do you mean? Like you think they’re not really dating or what?” Cyrus asked, beyond confused.

“Maybe? I don’t know. It seems awfully cliche, fake date for a wedding, right? But I can tell when Amber’s lying.”

“Alright, I trust your instincts.” Cyrus told him, because there wasn’t a thing he didn’t trust about TJ. “But it could be something else. Maybe it’s about how they reconnected?”

“Could be...” TJ mulled over it. 

“Or maybe it’s about whatever happened at the end of high school?” Cyrus offered. “Maybe. I’ll get it out of her.” TJ said confidentially. 

“Okay, but can you try focus on the wedding for the most part?” 

TJ took his right hand off the wheel and grabbed Cyrus’s hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss. “You know you’re my first priority.” 

“Of course.” Cyrus replied, drinking in the view of TJ lit up by dashboard for a second. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry if it seems like I’m focusing too much on the the unimportant aspects of the wedding. I haven’t forgotten the most important part, okay?” 

“I know, baby. I know you. Besides, it’s been fun to plan everything with you. But.” TJ stopped at a stop sign and looked over at Cyrus. He caressed his face carefully, re-memorizing every feature for the twentieth time that day. “The important thing is I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I know we both know that.” He leaned over and gave Cyrus a chaste kiss. 

“Are you tired?” TJ asked. Cyrus shook his head. “Where do you want to go?” He knew him well enough, knew what he was asking. “I don’t know. We could go to the arcade?” 

“The arcade?” Cyrus smiled. They hadn’t been to the arcade in several years. “Why not?” TJ asked, finally taking his foot off the brake. 

“No, let’s do it! That will be fun. I mean, we’ll be a couple of old men, but it’ll be fun.”

“Awesome. Can’t wait to kick your butt at skeeball.” TJ joked, squeezing Cyrus’s hand. 

“Alright, as long as you’re prepared to be destroyed in Pac-Man.” Cyrus retorted. 

TJ laughed and it was positively music to Cyrus’s ears. 

“Be spontaneous with me forever?” Cyrus asked.

“Absolutely, Underdog.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I’m kinda struggling with what direction to take this, like i love writing fluffy tyrus but i also wanna stick to the plot, which is ambi...what do you guys think??
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	3. Chapter 3

Amber woke up the next morning to a text from her brother. 

TJ: We'll pick you up at 10:20 for brunch. 

She'd totally forgotten about the brunch plans. It was the first activity with just the wedding party, which just happened to be all their high school friends: Marty, Buffy, Jonah, and of course, Andi. 

She checked the time; it was already 10. Great, only half an hour until she had to lie to all her old friends. She was starting to severely question her decision to do the whole 'fake dating' thing with Andi, especially carrying it out as far as lying to their friends and not just their families. But it was too late to back out now. She didn't want to upset Andi, so, she'd have to go with it. 

As Amber approached the front door of the Spoon along with Cyrus and TJ, she was surprised to feel a hand slip into hers.

"Good morning, babe!" Andi said a cheerful smile on her face. Amber, not having prepared for this moment, was dumbfounded. She wondered if it was possible to go deaf just from the sound of your own heart thumping. 

"You alright?" Andi asked, the smile still plastered on her face. "Yeah, yeah!" Amber said, finally mentally checked back in. "Just a little jet-lagged!" 

"But Chicago is an hour ahead?" Cyrus said, more to himself than anything, so Amber ignored it. 

They entered the restaurant and joined the rest of their group at the big back booth. As they approached, Amber casually slipped her hand out of Andi's to put her arms out to hug everyone. She tried not to think about the feeling of loss as she let go. 

After she and Andi greeted everyone and sat down, Buffy wasted no time at all. "Soo, I couldn't help but notice you two holding hands when you walked in here." She said with a questioning look on her face. 

Amber could see the hesitation on Andi's face, so she jumped in. "Well, actually, we recently started seeing each other again!" She explained with a natural smile. She didn't even realize her mistake until TJ exclaimed, "Again?!"

"I mean..." She looked to Andi for help, but she looked as panicked as Amber felt. 

"We..." Amber started, trailing off, words failing her. "We started hanging out again, and started seeing each other, romantically, for the first time." She explained.

Buffy's smile was very clearly skeptical, but at least Jonah and Marty seemed to buy it. "That's awesome, you guys make an adorable couple," Jonah said as he started looking over the menu.

"Woah, how long has the spoon had salads?" Marty asked. "Those have literally been on the menu since we were in middle school," Amber said with an eye roll. "Guess we weren't really thinking about salads back then." Cyrus chimed in.

Amber was glad the conversation was off of her, but it didn't seem the heat was off. She watched as Buffy's eyes darted between her and Andi. She decided to be bold and reach for Andi's hand, smiling when Andi intertwined their fingers on top of the table. It wasn't hard to fake. But then, the questions came. 

"So," Buffy started "How did you two end up meeting up again?" 

"Coffee shop." They said in unison, before turning to each other and giggling. That part came quite naturally.

Buffy wasn't impressed. "What about your first date?"

Andi answered: "We went to the beach. It was so beautiful, it was a little chilly that day, but we still got in the water, and we were originally just going as friends, but then...something changed." Amber couldn't breathe for a second, surprised, because Andi was telling the truth. She was surprised Andi even remembered. She was talking about a day that occurred years, not weeks ago, but that's how it went. She was lost for a second, remembering the warmth of Andi's hand in hers as she pulled her into the frigid water. She remembered thinking of baptism, of water giving new life, giving her new courage. 

She was brought back to reality by Andi's hand, back in her hand again, gently squeezing.

"Amber, I asked you if you ever thought you and Andi would end up together, like back in the day," Jonah said.

"The day I first met her, way back when, I knew we were meant to be!" She joked. Of course, that wasn't true. She was deeply repressed, and although she might have felt some initial attraction to her, she had been determined to keep convincing herself it was Jonah or some other boy she was interested in, until the start of her junior year of high school, and then it was another 18 long months before anything happened between her and Andi. 

"Well, if you think about it, I sort of played matchmaker for you two!" Jonah joked. Amber was grateful he was there to take the pressure off because Buffy still didn't look totally convinced and now she was whispering something to TJ who was nodding in agreement. 

__

After everyone had placed their orders, Buffy stood up to head to the bathroom, and after a minute, TJ did the same. 

"What took you so long?" She asked when he met her in the back corner near the restrooms, away from where their friends could see them.

"I didn't wanna look suspicious," He said.

"Who cares if we look suspicious! They're the ones who are being weird." Buffy pointed out.

"I know, but don't we wanna like...not let them know we're on to them? Isn't that how they do it in the movies?" 

"Oh, they know I'm on to them, and I'm not playing that game. I'm gonna work on Andi, you work on Amber. We're getting to the bottom of this, before the wedding." Buffy said confidently. 

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Cyrus said with a smile, surprising them. 

"We're talking about Andi and Amber," TJ told him.  
"Those fakers" Buffy added.  
"We're gonna get to the bottom of it," TJ said confidently.  
"Really quick." Buffy smiled.  
"They won't even know what hit them." TJ finished.

It was almost impossible to believe those two had ever not gotten along.  
"As long as you two don't start any unnecessary drama, the last thing this wedding needs is drama, alright?" Cyrus said, flashing his best puppy dog eyes at TJ. TJ melted under them, as always. "We won't let it affect the wedding, Underdog," TJ assured him. 

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" Jonah appeared, joining the small party in the back corner of the restaurant.

"Nothing! What are you doing back here?" Cyrus asked.

"Uh...I have to go to the bathroom..." Jonah said, motioning to the empty bathroom they were all standing in front of. 

"Oh!" Buffy replied, before quickly ushering TJ and Cyrus back to their table. "Let's keep the puppy dog out of it." She whispered, and they nodded. Jonah was much too pure for any of this. 

They rejoined the table, and TJ watched Amber's eyes track him as he sat down. She seemed nervous about whatever conversation had just occurred, it was apparent. She had good reason to be, too. TJ winked, just to mess with her. 

For the rest of the brunch, Buffy and TJ dropped the issue, choosing instead to have a lovely brunch, so everyone could catch up. They listened to Andi and Amber tell tales about their (separate) lives in Chicago, and the rest of the group filled them in on all things Shadyside. TJ and Buffy talked about the youth basketball league they ran, Cyrus spoke excitedly about how well his private counseling practice was doing. It felt good, to all be back at The Spoon again, enjoying the baby taters that hadn't changed in all those years.

As they wrapped up, TJ turned to Amber, "So, did you want us to drive you back to mom and dad's, or are you two going to hang out?" He asked, motioning between Andi and Amber. He didn't miss the uncertain, wide-eyed look they gave each other. 

"Actually, my mom was wondering if I could take Andi over to her place so they could catch up a little bit," Buffy said. TJ knew Buffy like the back of his hand, but she was such a smooth liar, he almost didn't catch it. So, it seemed she was determined to get down to business as soon as possible. 

TJ eyed Amber. She was playing nervously with her wallet, making idle conversation with Marty. Amber was constantly looking around at everyone but avoiding making eye contact with TJ. She shouldn't be too hard to crack, but he still needed to plan his attack strategy. But then he felt Cyrus slip an arm around him and kiss him gently on the cheek. Some things were more important than figuring out his sister's love life. 

Cyrus whispered, "Wanna research Christchurch when we get home?" Their honeymoon was to be a three-week tour of New Zealand. They'd spent the past month researching activities and restaurants in each city they planned to visit. TJ turned to bury his face in Cyrus's hair and nod. 

"Hey, come on, you're not even married yet!" Buffy joked, snapping her fingers to get them to pull apart. 

"Honestly, how have you two stayed this way?" Andi asked. TJ looked at Cyrus, and he just didn't understand the question. It was like breathing, loving Cyrus. It was an automatic response, it was all he'd ever known and all he ever wanted to know. 

...

Once home, TJ and Cyrus linked Cyrus's laptop up to the screen and looked through travel sites. "Oh, look at this!" Cyrus said, pulling up a page about a botanical garden. "We should definitely go there, I could take so many cute pictures of you there," TJ said, smirking at Cyrus. "You always say that." Cyrus pointed out.  
"You look good in every picture," TJ said.  
"You look good all the time, in or out of pictures."

TJ rolled his eyes. "Try again. Be more creative."  
"Um, I don't need to go to New Zealand to see the most gorgeous sight in the world, because the most gorgeous sight is sitting right next to me?" Cyrus said in a very questioning tone. 

TJ laughed. "Well I wish I'd known you felt that way, we could have saved a shit ton of money and not had to take a month off of work." 

Cyrus tickled his ribs. "Hey, you don't have to come! No one's making you!" 

TJ fought off Cyrus's tickling fingers and pinned his wrists to the couch as he responded. "Too late, I've already made plans to kiss you in those botanical gardens, and on the rocks of Castle Hill, and on the beach in Akaroa, and under the waterfall at Milford Sound, and in front of the Wanaka tree, and-"

"I get it, I get it, you're looking forward to New Zealand," Cyrus said, making only a partial effort to fight TJ off of him. 

"Correction: I'm looking forward to New Zealand with you," TJ said, leaning down to kiss him. 

…

TJ and Cyrus were just cleaning up their dinner when TJ got a text from Buffy. 

Buffy: I talked to Andi. She was really evasive for the most part, and at one point she implied she couldn't tell me much because it would be breaking Amber's trust. Here's what I'm thinking: you see what you can get out of Amber, then on Wednesday, we should corner them together and get the whole truth.

TJ: Sounds like a plan. See you at work tomorrow.

"You have your scheming face on." Cyrus narrowed his eyes at TJ.

"I'm scheming," TJ admitted with a wink. "Actually, Buffy's scheming, and I'm just going with it." 

Cyrus laughed. "Well, good, because the only thing I need you scheming about is how you're going to cuddle me tonight."

"You're kind of ridiculously sappy sometimes, you know that?" TJ asked.

"You're super ridiculously sappy, all the time," Cyrus replied.

"I can't help it, you're just so cute." TJ insisted. 

"Case. In. Point."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end almost turned into a love letter to new zealand haha
> 
> thanks so much to the wonderful opatrickr for editing! 
> 
> and thank you to tutselutse, jlking225, annie and opatrickr for commenting on the last chapter!! it really means so much, makes my whole day when I get comments :)


	4. Chapter 4

Monday morning, after sleeping in and getting a little work done on her laptop, Amber went to visit her grandparents. 

“Amber, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you.” Her grandma greeted her with an warm hug and a kiss on her cheek, as did her grandpa.

“Come on in, have a seat, pour yourself some tea, honey. How’s life in Chicago? Remind me what it is they have you doing?” Her grandma said with a smile. 

Amber explained her job as a buyer for an ultra-high end furniture and appliance store for yet another time, and shared a few pictures of her cat with her grandparents. It was all warm and happy and it felt so good to see them again, but Amber could feel herself waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Sure enough, the moment there was a lull in the conversation, her grandma said it. “So, are there any special young ladies in your life?” 

“Well, actually, yes. Andi, my friend from high school, Cyrus’s best friend, you know? She moved to Chicago recently and we’ve been seeing each other.”

This is what the whole fiasco was all about-lying to get her relatives off her back. So why did Amber find it so hard to say it?

“Oh, isn’t that just wonderful!” her grandmother exclaimed. “Gerald, did you hear that? Amber is dating Cyrus’s best friend!” 

Amber’s grandpa was a man of few words but even he chimed in “That’s lovely, sweetheart.”

Amber wondered if the lying would ever get easier. She knew, deep down, that part of the reason she hated the lying so much is because it puts images in her head-images of her and Andi together than can never be. Or at least, never be again.

“_You sure we won’t get in trouble?” Andi asked as Amber pulled into the small gravel parking lot. “I promise.” Amber smiled back at her. Her heart raced, and she considered holding taking Andi’s hand to rub it reassuringly but her arms felt frozen in place, her sweaty palms still gripping the gear shift and steering wheel. _

_ Amber’s dad had just been hired by the city to manage the public beach, and Amber knew for a fact that even though it wasn’t supposed to be open for a few more weeks, she wouldn’t get in trouble being down there. She wasn’t as much as a rebel as she used to be, but she still had a thing for taking Andi places they weren’t quite supposed to be.  _

_ “Shit fuck it, it’s so cold!” Andi had cried out as soon as she stepped foot in the water, but it was only a matter of time until they were splashing around, used to the chill. It wasn’t hard for Amber to ignore the icy cold water, it was hard for her to focus on anything but Andi.  _

_ Once out of the water, the wind made them even colder. Even with their towels bundled around them, it was too cold to sit on the beach and eat the snacks they’d brought. Amber was tempted by the thought of getting in her car and blasting the heat, but she just couldn’t bare to let the day end yet. “I have the boathouse key, it’ll be better in there.” She told her.  _

_ And better it was, because despite the musty smell and tight squeeze among all the canoes and paddle boats, they were safe from the wind, but even more than that, they were sharing the single folding chair they’d found. Long after they’d finished their snack, they sat there, as uncomfortable as it was to share a chair, just talking. At some point, Amber had said “I’d rather be stuck somewhere like this with you than with anyone else anywhere else.” She can’t remember what came before she said that, but god does she remember what came after. Andi lifted her head up from Amber’s shoulder, and Amber turned to look at her. She stared at her for a few seconds, lost, dazed, terrified, until Andi said, a bit louder than she needed to, “Amber, just kiss me already.” And she did. _

When Amber met up with TJ during his lunch break, she could tell immediately that something was up. “So, how’s work going? Getting everything done before your month off?” She asked with a smile while she sat down, hoping she could distract him at least for a bit.

“Yeah for the most part, speaking of Andi-“ 

“We weren’t”

“Why aren’t you two hanging out together today while everyone is working and you two are both free?” TJ asked while he looked over the menu.

“I was visiting grandma and grandpa and she was visiting her grandmother as well.” Amber said, rolling her eyes, making up a story on the spot.

“Yeah, here’s the thing though.” TJ said, smirking as he folded his menu and set it down. “Andi  isn’t  visiting her grandmother today, she actually stopped by the office to say hi to Buffy, and she told her that you were busy helping mom and dad around the house. So, maybe you should tell me what’s really going on, because you two are really, really horrible liars.” 

Amber felt her stomach drop. For a second, she wanted to deny it, to yell at TJ, to, at the very least, be evasive and avoid the subject. But then she looked up at her brother, and saw not the pompous smirk she had expected, but the kind, soft green eyes of her brother. The brother who has been by her side since the moment theyfirst existed. The brother who loved her unconditionally and who she knew would never judge her.

“What’s really going on is that I’ve been in love with Andi since high school.” 

___

Well, TJ certainly hadn’t been expecting that. He’d been expecting to slowly work a few pieces of the truth from Amber, to compare notes with Buffy, to confront them. Instead, he watched his sister hold back tears as she glanced around the restaurant as she told her story.

“I was always so drawn to her. I could never get her out of my mind, and at first I could convince myself it was because Jonah liked her. And fuck, I even dated Jonah again so I could stay close to her. It’s like...so many little things lead back to her. Even Hannah, I tried so hard to make things work with her, but I was only initially into her because she reminded me of Andi. And when I got to really know her, all the surface level similarities between the two melted away and I was left with someone who didn’t remind me of Andi at all and-“ Amber gasped to catch her breath, her face was red from holding in tears and TJ had no idea what to do, he’d never seen her like this before.

“And it sounds so awful to put it that way. But everyone I meet, I could only compare to the way she made me feel, and  _nothing_ compares to the way she made me feel.” TJ grabs Amber’s hand across the table. He squeezes it and she squeezes back, taking a moment to collect herself.

“She’s not really my girlfriend. We’re faking it to our grandparents and everyone off our backs. I’m sorry I lied to you. We thought it would be easier to keep the lie up that way, but...fuck, TJ. This is just not easy at all.”

TJ was dumbfounded. Sure, he’d suspected some of it, but he had no idea how bad his sister had it. He wished he had the right words to make the pain go away, to make her happy. But all he could really do was be there for her.

“I’m so sorry, Amber. I really am. I wish I’d known, I can’t imagine how hard this has been for you. I love you, and I’m here for you if you ever need to vent more.” 

Amber nodded with a sad smile. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m really ready to talk about everything. Because there’s so much. But I’ll let you know.” 

___

After Cyrus finished up his work for the day, he headed over to the office where TJ and Buffy worked. He arrived as everyone was getting ready to leave, said hello to everyone in the office, and wrapped TJ in his arms and gave him a chaste kiss. “Hey, love.” TJ melted into Cyrus’s arms (as much as was appropriate for his place of work) and Cyrus immediately sensed that something was off. “What’s going on babe?” He whispered. TJ shook his head slightly “It’s about Amber. We can talk about it tonight. You guys have fun, okay?” He said with a smile. 

Cyrus nodded. He hated seeing TJ upset but trusted he’d tell him what was up in due time-there were no secrets between them. 

“Ready to go?” Buffy approached the two men, beaming with excitement at the prospect of reuniting her childhood trio for an afternoon of just the three of them. “Born ready! See you tonight, babe!” Cyrus called out to TJ as he turned to walk out.

Buffy held back for a second and whispered to TJ “Why didn’t you text me back? What did you get from Amber?” TJ just shook his head. “I don’t know what to tell you. Just do your best I guess.” 

Buffy shot him a confused look but TJ started looking at his phone, signaling that he was done talking about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blah this took forever to update and I’m not thrilled with the flow of it but i really wanted to get something up! If anyone’s still reading and enjoying, please let me know!!
> 
> So many comments on the last chapter and it made me so happy!!!!!
> 
> Opatrickr, thank you for always being my number one fan!  
Am, Annie, ravencremisi, tutselutse, and Ayan, thank you all!!! All your comments mean so much and I love knowing there are people out there reading this and enjoying it, despite all the time that has passed since the finale ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Looking forward to hopefully updating, but comments truly would make me update faster! 
> 
> The next chapter should have more Tyrus :)


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